Not much buzz for Bruins entering NHL Draft

After another high finish, the Bruins end up with a late pick in the first round and only five choices in seven rounds. Keith Gretzky, younger brother of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, heads the Bruins' draft effort for the first time.

If there’s a drawback to being a fan of a contending team, it’s that the draft can be a little dull. Unless they’ve acquired high choices in trades, contenders pick late in the first and subsequent rounds, and often not in all rounds, because they’ve traded draft picks to acquire players they think will help them contend.

Barring any swaps, that’s the scenario – again – for the Bruins at this weekend’s NHL Draft in Philadelphia, where Round 1 will be held tonight (7; NBC Sports Network) and Rounds 2-7 on Saturday (10 a.m., NHL Network). The B’s don’t pick until No. 25 in the first round and two of their seven choices (third, sixth rounds) were sacrificed in trades.

The draft isn’t completely without interest, though. The Bruins at least have a first-round pick (last year, it had been traded to Dallas for Jaromir Jagr) and there’s a new man running the show: After four years under Wayne Smith, who was dismissed after last year’s draft, Keith Gretzky is now in charge.

“I think we’ve had some real productive meetings with Keith at the helm,” Chiarelli said of Wayne Gretzky’s younger brother, a member of the Bruins’ organization for three years. “He’s got a different perspective on things, but he also knows what the Bruins’ ideals are and the kind of ingredients we want in players.

“I have complete confidence in Keith running this draft.”

Gretzky has been in the business at the NHL level since 2001 when Phoenix (Wayne was part-owner at the time) hired him as an amateur scout. By 2006, he’d risen to amateur scouting director, a position he held through the 2011 draft. Noteworthy selections during his tenure were current Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (No. 6 overall, 2009) and forward Mikkel Boedker (No. 8, 2008), plus current Senators forward Kyle Turris (No. 3, 2007).

Unfortunately for Gretzky, the 2014 draft class isn’t seen as particularly strong. Whether he actually gets to use that pick at No. 25 overall is somewhat out of his hands, too: Chiarelli said during a conference call this week that he’d like to move up and that he’d be willing to trade the pick.

“Everything’s always available (in trade discussions), and I would include that first-round pick,” the GM said. “We’re probably going to look at moving up a little, or moving down a little, depending on who’s available at that time.

“I’m not going to say that (the first-rounder) is in play, but I’m not going to rule anything out.”

Page 2 of 2 - As much as Draft Weekend is supposed to be about the long-term future, most of the intrigue involves the potential for trades and players who may become free agents on July 1. A combination of factors – mediocre draft class, shortage of quality free agents, seven new general managers spread throughout the league – leads Chiarelli to think there may be a little more activity at this draft than at others.

“I think there’s a general shortage of (free-agent) players,” he said. “The other factor you have to look at … is that it’s generally considered a thinner draft, so there’s not as much value, relatively speaking, placed on these picks. Teams will probably be more apt to move those picks around.

“So you’ve got newer faces in GM seats. You’ve got the decreased value in the draft picks. For those reasons, there might be more movement in and around the draft.”

If the Bruins “only” draft players while in Philadelphia, Chiarelli said the staff has crafted “a tight list” of players they’d like to select. If they end up with an immediate need – say, if potential unrestricted free agent Jarome Iginla isn’t re-signed – this draft won’t fill that hole.

But with several newcomers (Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller), joining the lineup on defense in the last two seasons, a group of young forwards knocking on the door at AHL Providence (Ryan Spooner, Matt Fraser, Craig Cunningham, Alexander Khoklachev, Seth Griffith) and 2012 first-round pick Malcolm Subban working towards joining No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask in a year or so, the scouting staff is in Philadelphia this weekend to look long-term.